DAR - The Cauldron Of Fire

[Cole]

Turn 17 evening

The company commander of the T-70's rushed into the valley had an unpleasant surprise when an unseen platoon of assault guns started to engage his smaller tanks.

A general retreat was sounded and the Russian tanks fled from the armor shooting widely at German infantry that stood between them and the safety of the ridge line to the south.

The Germans commander is determined to take the ridge. The enemy infantry still lurks on the opposite slope and when some T-34's moved forward they were welcomed by a barrage of small caliber AT gun fire. At least 3 T-34's and 1 SU-152 were destroyed, a waste since the remaining Russian armor could not lodge the enemy from their positions.

Sasha Lenartovich's forces are now overshadowed by the giant Ferdinands that have occupied the hill tops on the eastern side of the ridge. More Ferdinands are moving into the open east of the ridge line and have set their op fire to engage anything moving in the open.

The defenders of Hill 253.5 are doing well. Russian small arms fire is effective and combined with the heavy artillery missions assigned to this sector the German infantry is having a rough time.

Both the Luftwaffe and Red Air Force have been overhead battling for air supremacy and targeting the other side's armor.

[Cole]

Turns 18 - 20 night through late morning.

After a lull during the night the Germans have forced all Russian defenders from the ridge line. Most of the Russian tanks and some infantry have made it to the relative safety of a small river valley. In the east the Germans have pushed forward and as of early morning have started their assault on Hill 253.5.

During Turn 19 I retreated from a bunker overlooking the west side of the hill due to deadly direct HE fire from various German tanks. My defenders were surprised that German troops were able to rush in and take the bunker. Fortunately in all my years of playing CS I was able to witness what has been my most successful op fire. My infantry that was stationed out of LOS next to the bunker complex were supposed to move back in once the Germans got close. This infantry's op fire disrupted all the German units and even took one SP.

Here's the situation that threatens my defenses on the hill and offers the Germans excellent LOS over much of Ponyri's defenses:



Fortunately my troops were able to surround the bunker complex and overrun the tired defenders. My T-34 platoon got a little ambitious and tried to kill an Elefant only to watch one of their own tanks exploded when engaged by close range op fire.

In the center Sasha Lenartovich was monitoring his radio and was relieved to hear many reports of the Germans moving troops east and not advancing on the Russian positions in the river valley. The Germans left a few Ferdinands to provide covering fire over the plains and have stationed many troops on top of the ridge to cover the ground below. Sasha's relief didn't last so long as his platoon was ordered to be the first to expose themselves to any German op fire and engage the troops on the ridge. Not wanting to ask his comrades to take a risk he wouldn't Sasha's tank was the first to climb back up and almost immediately his vision was obscured by smoke and dirt flying everywhere. His platoon was being engaged by Ferdinands a few kilometers away to the east. Amazingly all of his tanks were unscathed and they managed to kill 1 MG SP and disrupt the position. Instead of being allowed to retire Sasha was ordered to stand his ground in order to offer the chance of absorbing op fire as other Russians tanks took their turn in moving into firing positions. Next up was a platoon of KV heavy tanks. Sasha's quick selfish prayer was answered and the German gunners ignored his platoon of T-34's and started concentrating on the KVs. A few KV's were hit but the heavy armor deflected the shells fired from such a long range.

The situation below shows the two platoons of T-34's and KV tanks after they have finished firing. They both were able to retreat back to safety without any loss and cleared the way for the rest of the tanks to engage the enemy. The others were even able to take out a StuG III that was positioned just off this screen shot. The German MG positions suffered a few losses but the brave infantry held on and did not retreat.

[Larry Reese]

During Turn 19 I retreated from a bunker overlooking the west side of the hill due to deadly direct HE fire from various German tanks. My defenders were surprised that German troops were able to rush in and take the bunker. Fortunately in all my years of playing CS I was able to witness what has been my most successful op fire.

Boy you aren't kidding. When I saw that fire during my turn I was stunned. All the benefits of a bunker and a Russian rifle platoon gets kills? Definitely possible, but not probable. A bad roll of the dice for the Germans.

LR

[Cole]

Turn 21

Larry is going for broke on my right flank. He has massed most of his armor there and has only left a few assault guns to cover his two VP hexes in the west and some Ferdinands in the center to dominate the wide open spaces with their op fire.
My infantry on the hill continue to do a superb job with their op fire. German infantry attempted to gain the hill top but were mostly disrupted by op fire. Before the Russian infantry counter attacked their positions were further hit by Russian artillery causing a couple of retreats and more disruptions. There were a couple of German platoons that survived the replay undisrupted but then they were demoralized by the fact that they now faced fortifications with Russian artillery used in direct fire mode. These platoons retreated leaving their disrupted comrades to deal with the Russian counterattack.

The Germans have gained a foothold in the factories just south of the paved highway in the industrial section NE of Ponyri. Most ominously a series of vital trench lines were taken that would allow the enemy to rapidly consolidate this area and take a 500 VP hex. Again Russian artillery fire was able to disrupt most of the infantry in their new positions and three platoons of T-34s cleared them out. The T-34's wisely chose to retreat back into the cover of the wheat fields and not try and engage the panzers at close range.

The screen shot below shows the Germans massing NE of Ponyri. The trench lines mentioned above have an artillery marker placed on it. The Germans troops retreated back into the factories and grain silos. It is impossible to hold the defensive positions just south of the highway due to the enemy's advantage in direct HE fire.

[Cole]

Turn 22 Late afternoon,

Now that the battle is joined NE of Ponyri and on Hill 253.5 it is hard to post screen shots. The battle is now up close and personal and any screen shot will reveal some sort of vital information to enemy intelligence.

After the game is over I'll revisit these turns and post the relevant screen shots. For now I'll use the map view for most shots.

On Hill 253.5 the Germans were again pushed off of the summit. The platoons that pushed the Germans back down the north slope reported more German infantry on the slope and in the valley below. Fortunately a lot are disrupted and demoralized from past assaults but there seems to be a few platoons of fresh troops.

On the eastern edge of the hill enemy armor advanced mid way up the slope in order to bring Russian defenders under direct fire. The high explosive was deadly but the armor was soon surrounded by Russian infantry after supporting German infantry was pushed back by artillery and small arms fire. Infantry were able to disrupt a couple of platoons and a brave T-26 platoon raced down the slope in order to get a rear shot. Only one tank platoon remained undisrupted. Two SMG platoons and an infantry platoon went in for the close assault but suffered severe losses. They did at least manage to disrupt the last German panzer platoon. Major Kujat from the 886th Guards Regiment saw the situation and rushed two more infantry platoons to the battle. He personally participated in the assault that overran all the enemy tanks.

A brawl is developing at the 1st May State Farm. German infantry was pushed back from the grain silos and equipment repair factories but this turn disrupted German infantry held the trench lines against two assaulting T-34 platoons.

Further west the battle is still raging. Russian armor was lured into an ambush by what seemed to be an exposed mortar platoon. Once Russian tanks moved to the ridge line to engage they received fire from StuG's in the valley. The Russians were able to destroy a couple of StuG's and one 1SP from the mortar platoon. Sasha Lenartovich is afraid his luck might run out. He has been ordered to stay on the ridge line instead of pulling back to safety.

Quick screen shots of Russian Regimental commander's map marked with red lines for Russian positions and blue dots marked after receiving reports of enemy contact. One StuG and mortar platoon on the ridge line north of the river, two StuG platoons in the valley below, and two infantry platoons in the fields under the hill top. Also one German infantry platoon holding a trench line in the western side of Shirokoe Bilota.


Screen shot below from another Regimental situation map. Blue line shows German front lines. Red dots are successful Russian counter attacks. Light blue dot by the State Farm is the unsuccessful one.
1: Scene where two Russian assaults overran German tanks.
2: Scene where Russian infantry took silos but now will be exposed to heavy direct fire during the Germans turn and also where the T-34s were unsuccessful in pushing disrupted infantry from the trench line.
3: Area of captured bunker that overlooks all the State Farm's fields. Russians now have to withdraw into the valley. Foolish close assault by two SMG platoons on two platoons of Ferdinands. The large tanks retreated but were not damaged.

[Cole]

Turn 23 Evening

The Germans have decided to hold their ground on Hill 253.5 and the Russians are not yet counterattacking. Stalemate on the hill.

Fierce fighting continues around the 500 VP hex in the May 1st State Farm.

German Elefants now positioned on the hills to the west of Ponryi overlooking bunkers and the front line.

Russians have withdrew from the center but instead of reinforcing Ponryi are now threatening the German held 500 VP hex in Shirokoe Bilota. Lot's of German infantry and AT guns assigned to protect this sector.

[Cole]

Turn 24 Night
Apologize for any that are following this DAR for the time lag between posts. Lately both Larry and I have been busy at work and at home and play our turns when we can. I've been reducing other CS commitments so should be able to get this DAR back to the normal posting rate.

Today I've only played on one sector of my front.

Here's a screen shot of the Russian counter attack towards Shirokoe Bilota. We've intercepted German radio traffic from this sector expressing concern to higher headquarters over the unexpected amount of Russian armor coming over the hill at them. The surprise goes both ways as there's more infantry and assault guns on the scene than I expected.



Two T-34 platoons have started to withdraw down the south slope in the face of heavy German AT and assault gun fire. On the east side of the screen shot the German commander has boldly moved 4 AT gun teams forward. These light guns have accounted for two destroyed T-34's and caused a couple to retreat. The AT guns were accompanied by a screen of German MG platoons.

The Russians are determined to take revenge on the German gunners. It takes about 3 tank platoons to disrupt a MG platoon stationed forward of the gun positions.



Yet again Sasha Lenartovich and his company are ordered forward. Sasha's platoon assaults the disrupted German MG gunners and cause them to retreat to the safety of the AT guns. Another MG platoon stands between Sasha's two T-34's and the exposed German gunners rapidly trying to reload.
Sasha gives the order to engage the MG platoon but as soon as the T-34's fire they are taken under fire by 76mm AT guns stationed on the north slope. The heavy fire causes Sasha to give the order to retreat before his tanks are destroyed. His platoon is highlighted in the screen shot above. A close by platoon of Heavy KV-1 tanks are ordered forward next but before they can engage the MG platoon they are bought under fire from another 76mm AT gun position and they also quickly retreat before they suffer casualties.

Next a SU-76 is ordered to ignore the German infantry directly in front and engage the MG platoon. They disrupt it. It is now possible to overrun the guns. Sasha's 3rd platoon and a T-70 platoon are recalled from the north slope and move to overrun but the T-34 is forced back by yet more AT gun fire!! The T-70 platoon commander knows he might not be able to do the job with his platoon of three light tanks. Unfortunately the only other Russian armor close enough to assault and also able to withdraw in time from the vulnerable ridge hex-side is another T-70 platoon. The T-70s race up the north slope and join their sister platoon. Amazingly they are not engaged by any German guns.

The Russian commander selects close assault and rolls the dice.......




This engagement is only an afterthought in Divisional Headquarters. The Germans have taken the 500VP victory hex at the State Farm. Next post will detail the fight there.

[Cole]

Turn 24 continued...

Finished playing my turn. A platoon of T-70's in the post above went on to overrun the 76mm AT gun position in front of them but was engaged by even more German AT guns when trying to return back up the hill. The German gunners avenged their crushed comrades and destroyed one platoon and only one exposed and disrupted platoon is left.

The situation at the 1st May State Farm below. The Germans have overrun the VP hex. During the Russian turn the VP hex and the buildings to its NW have been retaken. A real tough back and forth battle just like the historical battle.



The Russians are able to hold their positions on the Hill 253.5 to the east. The majority of German Elefant losses occur here due to disable effects from Russian artillery fire. Good. I don't like how Campaign Series gives the Elefants a relatively strong close assault factor. Historically the Germans gave up on these tanks because they would get bogged down easily but also they were also very vulnerable to Russian infantry (no machine gun and the Russians would disable many with Molotov cocktails, etc).

[Cole]

Turn 25 Morning 9 July,

As dawn breaks the 9th Army continues to press the assault.

Historically on the 9th the focus of Kursk shifted to the south (many excellent Earlmann scenarios). The 9th Army was pretty much stopped in their tracks having been stalemated in Ponyri and failing to gain the heights around Olkhovatka (another Earlmann scenario).

I'll post a review of the current front lines below but somehow Earl has figured things out in this scenario to have the struggle for Ponyri happen right around the same time it did historically. During Kursk the Germans assaulted Ponyri on 7 July and managed to take all the 500 VP hexes in Ponyri. Glantz quotes German participants in the battle: "Ponyri, a strung-out village, and Hill 253.5 were the Stalingrad of the Kursk salient. The most fiercely contested points were the tractor station (500 vp) , the railway-station (500 vp) , the school, and the water tower....". The battle went back and forth for the next two days.
In this scenario the battle revolves around the State Farm (captured by the Germans on 7 July by two battalions and 12 tanks) and Hill 253.5 instead.

Screen shot below shows the situation around Shirokoe Bilota. Russian counter attack has been repulsed and now the Russians will attempt to hold on to the 500 VP hex (under Ponryi L on the screen shot). Historically this area was quickly overrun by the Germans while Larry made a decision to mass everything on his left flank.



Screen shot below of the action to the north of Ponyri. The Russian commander was glad to hear that his troops have been able to hold on to the State Farm 500 VP hex. Bloody fighting will continue here.
The Ferdinands sit upon the ridge line and just blast the Russian defenders with direct fire. I've been allocating heavy artillery fire to keep the tankers buttoned up and hopefully disable a tank or two but so far without luck.

It looks like the Germans are going for broke. Their infantry is now moving forward from three directions but the Russian artillery does a beautiful job in breaking up the assault waves.



I apologize for the ugly screen shot below but I want to show the Hill 253.5 sector but as this is a DAR and not AAR do not want to show the situation behind my lines (artillery positions, forces or lack thereof).



The Germans have given up trying to take the hill and seem to be sending any extra infantry either to the fight at the State Farm or to guard their 500 vp hex in the NE. The Germans hold on to the bunker and slopes commanding the fields to the east of the State Farm below them but it's here that the Russian artillery is constantly able to disable the big German tanks. In this game the Germans have lost more armor to artillery fire than any other Russian unit.

[Cole]

Turn 25 Western Sector

One last post for turn 25. The ad hoc command of Russian tanks and accompanying SMG platoons were ordered to slowly retreat off the hill and take up new defensive positions further south. Instead the Russians spotted three platoons of STU G assault guns and two PZ IV's advancing in the wheat fields below.
Their blood lust up the Russian tankers ignored the order and moved to engage the enemy panzers. The German commander was expecting this and there's a chance that the panzers were positioned below the hill to lure the Russian tanks into a kill zone because the vanguard platoon of heavy KV-1 tanks were immediately bought up OP fire from the panzers and forced to retreat. The follow on waves of two different platoons of T-34s suffered the loss of a tank and disruption by OP fire from the panzers below or even more AT guns positioned to the east.

Finally the 3rd Company commander's platoon was able to engage the enemy unmolested by op fire. The first shot destroyed one platoon of assault guns but in the smoke and confusion it was difficult to say if they could be credited for one or two kills. The company commander was determined to make the Fascists pay and ignored radio calls to retreat. He used the rest of his action points to fire on the enemy.

The repaints of Sasha's 1st Company was next. Sasha's platoon moved forward and were able to destroy an assault gun and even though Sasha is as determined as his comrade to destroy Fascist armor he still had a cool enough head to retreat back out of LOS before the German AT guns could reload.

A few more German tanks were destroyed but at the end of the engagement it might of been almost an one for one exchange in destroyed tanks. All the German armor suffered at least 1 SP loss and were disrupted but they held their ground and chances are they will soon recover and recommence their advance therefore most of the Russian armor retired out of sight back to their side of the hill.